Playoff Prediction Project, 2012

The first round of the playoffs starts tonight, and once again the writers of the Nation Network are getting together to predict who they feel will win each series in the first round.

Last year, Lowetide walked away with this thing, correctly predicting the winner in 14 of 15 series. He hasn’t consistently rubbed that in every single time I’ve talked to him, but I expect that to change when he wins it all again this year. This year, we have 15 writers participating, and their picks are as follow:

Writer

Wesbite

VAN/L.A.

S.J./STL

PHX/CHI

NSH/DET

NYR/OTT

BOS/WSH

FLA/NJD

PIT/PHI

Jeff Angus

Canucks Army

VAN, 5

STL, 4

PHX, 7

NSH, 7

NYR, 6

BOS, 7

FLA, 7

PIT, 6

Justin Azevedo

Flames Nation

VAN, 6

STL, 5

CHI, 5

NSH, 6

NYR, 5

BOS, 7

N.J., 5

PIT, 6

Cam Charron

Canucks Army

L.A., 6

STL, 6

PHX, 7

NSH, 5

NYR, 7

BOS, 5

N.J., 4

PIT, 7

John Cullen

Canucks Army

L.A., 6

STL, 7

PHX, 6

NSH, 7

NYR, 5

BOS, 6

N.J., 5

PIT, 6

Thomas Drance

Canucks Army

L.A., 6

STL, 7

CHI, 6

DET, 6

NYR, 5

BOS, 7

N.J., 6

PIT, 5

Ryan Fancey

Leafs Nation

VAN, 7

S.J., 6

CHI, 7

NSH, 7

OTT, 6

BOS, 5

N.J., 6

PIT, 7

Danny Gray

Leafs Nation

VAN, 5

S.J., 6

CHI, 6

NSH, 7

NYR, 5

WSH, 7

N.J., 4

PHI, 7

Jason Gregor

Oilers Nation

VAN, 6

STL, 5

CHI, 6

NSH, 7

NYR, 6

BOS, 7

N.J., 7

PIT, 7

Patrick Johnston

Canucks Army

VAN, 6

STL, 7

CHI, 6

DET, 7

NYR, 6

BOS, 7

FLA, 5

PIT, 6

John Lofranco

Leafs Nation

L.A., 7

STL, 6

CHI, 6

DET, 6

OTT, 7

BOS, 6

N.J., 5

PIT, 7

Lowetide

Oilers Nation

VAN, 5

STL, 5

CHI, 6

NSH, 6

NYR, 5

BOS, 6

N.J., 5

PIT, 7

Marda Miller

Canucks Army

VAN, 7

S.J., 7

PHX, 7

NSH, 7

NYR, 6

BOS, 7

N.J., 6

PIT, 7

Matt Stephen

Leafs Nation

VAN, 7

STL, 6

CHI, 6

DET, 5

NYR, 4

WSH, 7

N.J., 5

PHI, 6

Jonathan Willis

Oilers Nation

VAN, 7

STL, 6

CHI, 7

DET, 6

NYR, 5

BOS, 5

N.J., 6

PIT, 6

Kent Wilson

Flames Nation

L.A., 7

S.J., 7

CHI, 5

DET, 7

NYR, 6

BOS, 7

N.J., 6

PIT, 6

The consensus picks, in order of certainty, are as follow:

New Jersey over Florida, New York over Ottawa, Boston over Washington, Pittsburgh over Philadelphia, all 13-2

Chicago over Phoenix and St. Louis over San Jose, 11-4

Vancouver over Los Angeles, 10-5

Nashville over Detroit, 9-6

If you’d like to play along, please feel free to enter your picks below; I’ll count them up and add them to the spreadsheet as long as they’re in before the end of the second period of tonight’s Pittsburgh/Philadelphia game. It’s just for fun, but it’s always an enjoyable contest.

Now, for an update on our just-for-fun-but-also-prizes contest: we’ll be announcing the winners of the Nation Network Hockey Pool on Friday morning, and contacting them individually shortly thereafter to award prizes. Our esteemd leader, Baron Wanye von Gretz IV, came up in a big way and that’s something to be thankful for. Just remember – you can be grateful and harassing at the same time, so be sure to pop down below and either encourage/LOUDLY DISCOURAGE him to live up to his promise to post naked pictures of himself should the Oilers win the draft lottery. I don’t want to sway the outcome; feel free to do either: encourage or *LOUDLY DISCOURAGE* him.